For FIAT's global marketing rights there is a licensing issue with reused names that are not exclusive like Hornet, Viper, Dart
HORNET:
The Wolseley Hornet was a lightweight saloon car produced by the Wolseley Motor Company from 1930 to 1936. The manufacturer had been acquired by Morris in 1927 and the Wolseley Hornet of 1930 was in effect a 2-door Morris Minor saloon fitted with a small six cylinder engine in place of the four cylinder unit that was normal for this size of car.
Later revived on the lengthened Mini variant (1961-1969) :
the structural modifications to the Mini were all aft of the B-pillar, where a saloon-type boot was added. (sedan style trunk).
1984 2WD off-road buggy The Hornet is one of Tamiya's most popular R/C cars ever released, helping launch a 2WD R/C buggy boom worldwide.
VIPER :
Speaking at the 2004 Detroit Motor Show, where Dodge's launch in Europe was announced, Chrysler UK boss Simon Elliott said: "We'll market the car as the Dodge SRT-10. Everyone knows it's a Viper and for the 30 LHD examples a year we'll sell, it's not worth spending the money to try to buy the name."
Bob Busbridge from Morden, Surrey builds an AC Cobra lookalike called the Cobretti Viper. He sold only 45 complete cars and 200 self-assembly kits in nearly 20 years of business but doesn't own the Viper name, either. He's been involved in a 12-year legal battle with another man - Kenneth Cook from Bournemouth, Dorset - about who registered it first with the UK Patent Office.
Kenneth Cook from Bournemouth, Dorset has a company, Brightwheel Replicas Ltd, that also sold a kit car called the Viper and he thinks the trademark is his.
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DART:
The Daimler Dart was a sports car built by British manufacturer Daimler in Coventry.
The car was described as a 2+2, but the bench-like rear seat offered very limited leg room unless the front seats were pushed fully forward. Thirty black Daimler Darts with the Borg-Warner Model 8 3-speed automatic were used by the British Metropolitan Police.
The only completely South African car is the GSM Dart. The Dart was also manufactured at West Malling, Kent, England by GSM Cars where it was known as the GSM Delta because Daimler had an English sports car called the Dart.
Glassport Motor Company (GSM) was a South African motor manufacturer based in Cape Town between 1958 and 1964. The name Glass Sport Motors is due to their use of fiberglass. GSM narrowly missed being South Africas first sports car maker, beaten by the GRP Protea. In Dec. 1961 the Flamingo was announced. Although it was a G.T. car it essentially followed the design of the Dart. G.S.M. was later taken over by the Midmacor company. The Dart and the Flamingo were never produced in large numbers, and production ceased in 1965, owing to limited local demand. According to the GSM club, a total of 122 Darts and 144 Flamingos were built, as well as 76 Deltas in England, between 1957 and 1965. Over 145 Darts and Flamingos still exist, a remarkable percentage of cars that still survive.
In the 1980s a series of accurate replicas known as Levy Darts were built by Jeff Levy with involvement from one of the original trio, Verster de Wit.
In the 1990s a visually similar mechanically different replica in the form of the Hayden Dart was manufactured.
Replica of GSM Dart made by Hayden.